Improvement in locks



NTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH L. HALL, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

lMPROVEMENT IN LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,384, dated May 5, 1863.

To all whom t 'may concern:

Be it known that I, JosEPH L. HALL, of Cincinnati, Hamilton county, Ohio, have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification.

This improvement relates to that class of bank or vault locks in which a series of gated rings, called tumblers,77 oppose the retraction of the bolt, except when they are arranged according to a secret formula; and my invention consists in, first, a provision of sliding dog or check-piece, in connection with my previously-patented fast tumbler or collar, said eheckpiece operating independently of the main bolt, and making it impossible t0 obtain a clue to the combination by any manipulation of the key or bolt second, provisions to facilitate a rearrangement of the tumblers without taking off the lock; third, provisions for increasing the strength and durability and diminishing the friction of the rotating tumblers.

Figure l is a perspective view of a lock embodying my improvements, the bolt being thrown forward and the cover removed. Fig. 2 is a section of the same parallel to the main bolt. Fig. 3 is a reverse view of my main bolt and sliding check-piece detached. Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are, respectively, detached views of a key, hub or thimble, stem, tumbler, and tumbler-hub. Fig. 8 is an axial section of a tumbler-hub. Fig. 9 represents a trier.

B B' are two exactly similar cylindrical chambers, open at both ends, and cast in one piece with the case A. Each chamber is gated, Il, to receive stumps upon the main bolt, which is constructed in manner follow-v I) is thc head, and C the shank, of the bolt proper.

D is a cross-head armed with two precisely similar stumps, Z, adapted to enter the gates b of the chambers B B.

c is a slot in the shank C for the wrist or bit e of the crank E.

o are stops projecting from the main bolt to limit its retraction. rEhe main bolt is recessed, c 0', to receive a peculiar dog or sliding check-piece of the following construction U is the cross-plate, and V the shank, of my check-piece F, the said shank occupying the rcess c in the rear of the bolt-shank, and connected to the former by a web, W, which traverses the mortise 0', in which it has a slight play longitudinally of the bolt.

X is a slot in the dog-shank, made narrower than that in the bolt, in order that the crank E may operate the dog F before it can move the bolt at all.

Y are stumps or tongues which extend backward from the sliding cross-plate U, and enter, without touching the bottom, of, one of the depressions in the periphery of the fast tumbler, presently described.

Each chamber B B has screwed within it a hub, G, having a cylindrical projection, H, to receive a series of alternate tumblers, I, and washers J, which t snugly around said projection H, the tumblers I revolving freely around it while the washers J are held from rotation by tongues K, which occupy grooves L in the projection H. The entire series of washers and loose tumblers I J are coniined by an annular cap, M, secured to the hub.

The above-described arrangement, besides having greater strength and stability than the customary open-centered rings, and less friction, enables the entire nest 7 to be withdrawn and held in any position that may be desired for inspection or change of combination Without danger of dropping any of the pieces, and without taking off the lock.

N is a stem, cylindrical at those portions which are intended to revolve within the hub G and the covering-plate O of the lock, and polygonal at its outer end to t the thimble or key-hub P in the door. The stem Nis also polygonal where it occupies a corresponding eye in a collar, Q. The collar Q constitutes my fast tumbler, and differs from the loose tumblers I in always rotating with the stem. Both fast tumbler Q and the loose tumblers I are perforated to receive one or more pins, i, by means of which the rotation or partial rotation of the stem and fast tumbler N Q is communicated in alternately opposite directions to the successive tumblers of the series, in manner familiar in this class of locks. Each of the tumblers I Q and washers J has a gating, R. The fast tumbler Q has also around its periphery a series of shallow notches, q, into which, when the bolt is clandestinely withdrawn, the stumps of the checkpieces enter. The notches q are cut slightly deeper than the extreme penetration of the dog-stumps Y, so as to prevent any sound of contact between the latter and the fast tumbler which would guide the ear in determin ing whether the stumps had entered the gate proper or one of the blind notches merely.

S is a trier, which, being inserted through aperture s in the hub, is used to discover the gating positions of the tumblers. The gatings 7' of the washers act to guide and steady the tip of the trier as it is pushed in from tumbler to tumbler.

T is a plug or cap whose removal enables the partial sliding out of the stem N so as to render it temporarily clear of the Ykey-hub. The stem N then being turned forty-tive degrees,'or any multiple thereof, and reinserted, changes the entire combination, which may then be ascertained by the. insertion ofthe trier S and manipulation of the tumblers.

A key and index-plate may be employed similar to those described in my patent of 25th September, 1860.

Operation: The first action of the key when applied to retract the bolt is to slide back Ythe dog or check-piece F, ythe parts of which are so proportioned that it comes to its bearings before its stumps reach the bottoms of the notches in the fast tumbler Q, so thatany sound accompanying this movement is merely vthat of the check-piece reaching its bearings in the main bolt. It is, therefore, kimpossible to detect by any sound whether the checkpiece has entered the gate proper or one of the blind notches, and this entry, being completed before the bolt itself is started back effectually locks the tumblers against any rotation whatever, so that no bolt-pressure 'can be brought to bear in connection with an eX- perimental rotation of the tumblers. This device is believed to render the lock unpickable but for the larger class of vault-locks I provide a great additional complication in the feature of duplicated nests of tumblers, the chance of gating both sets at the same time being inconceivably remote. In practice, the

cashier may usually merely derange one series of tumblers after closing the vault or safe, for a burglar could not know that either set was gated, and would inevitably derange both.

The facilities for partially withdrawing and shifting the central stem of either nest of tumblers, or for withdrawing and handling an entire nest, enables a ready change or inspection of combination without taking oft' the lock.

I do not desire to confine myself to the precise arrangement here selected for illustration so long as I attain the same results by means substantially equivalent. For example, the sliding check-piece has been found to serve a good purpose when arranged wholly on the front side of the bolt, and in connection with a single set of tumblers, and it is believed that my sliding check-piece can be advantageously applied to various forms of oscillating and sliding tumblers.

The number of loose tumblers may vary from .one to five,or even more, according to the style and requirements of the particular lock.

I claim as new and of my invention hereinl. The provision of the slidingcheckpiece or dog F, operated in advance of the main bolt by the same key or other device which moves the latter, in combination with one or more sets of tumblers, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In the described combination with the fast tumbler Q, the provision of the sliding check-piece or dog F, operated in advance of the main bolt by the same bit, key, or othrr instrument which moves the said bolt, the whole being .combined and operating as and for the purposes substantially as set forth.

3. The arrangement of hollow withdrawable hub Gr, containing the operating-stem N, and supporting the series of alternate loose tumblers I and fast washers J', the whole being confined to said hub by the annular cap M` in the manner represented.

4. The combination of cap T, shiftable stem N, and fast tumbler Q, to facilitate numerous and ready changes of combination, as explained.

5. The fixed washers J, gated, j, in line with the apertures in the hub G, to afford a xed guide for the trier, as described.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

JOSEPH L. HALL.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. KNIGHT, RICHARD NELsoN. 

